Regarding the empty stable - it is a very big stable and usually full of people, as I said before I was very surprised nobody was around. But as I wrote in my previous post - within 10 minutes many people gathered around, a lot of them my friends that I meet there every day - so I think it was just a very rare moment of everyone needing to leave for a while to do something at the same time - I know a few people were in the manege, a few people were in the upper stable (it would take me much longer to get there, I was only running around the stable where the mare was), the stablemen MUST have been somewhere around too - probably in the hay storage, where I didn't remember to go, I did go to their room in the main building where they hang out, shower, have a coffee etc., where they usually are when not working around the horses, but it was empty...

Tha being said it still doesn't mean those people would know what to do and be able to do more than we, who were there did. They could perhaps call other people that I didn't know, they could happen to have the vet's number, they could know someone who could guide them over the phone, who has done this before - but I'm sure most of them (if not all) would not be actually able to do much themselves.

Most horses easily pop out the foals and everthing is hunky dory.
On occassion there are problems. You went for help , instead of walking away.
You have to realize that some mares can be dangerous, very protective .
If you ever see this problem again , you will have a little more knowledge to help. The Vet would not have been out there in time.
You might suggest to the Manager/Owner that for foaling mares, emergency numbers should be posted .

The mare trying to kick the foal was her attempt at dislodging whatever might have been obscuring it's airway... I've seen maiden elephants do it ad instinct since they only birth once every two years they will try and try even after it's dead...

Any who you can look up I'm sure you'll find it, they'll give very powerful kicks often times kicking the newborn calf across the ground, grabbing it by the trunk and drop it, sort of like giving CPR without mouth to mouth...

Not criticizing you at all you did a wonderful job especially for not knowing what to do, it's just food for thought...

Shame on your facility though for not being cognizant of what's going on in their own barn that's just poor management.

The mare trying to kick the foal was her attempt at dislodging whatever might have been obscuring it's airway... I've seen maiden elephants do it ad instinct since they only birth once every two years they will try and try even after it's dead...

Any who you can look up I'm sure you'll find it, they'll give very powerful kicks often times kicking the newborn calf across the ground, grabbing it by the trunk and drop it, sort of like giving CPR without mouth to mouth...

Not criticizing you at all you did a wonderful job especially for not knowing what to do, it's just food for thought...

I know she was only trying to help her baby, we would not prevent this from happening (and we didn't), we only tried to keep her away when she became much more aggressive - at one point she completely laid on the foal and wanted to roll on him so we quickly pulled him away, the foal was dead by that point anyway, we just didn't want him to get crushed or just for more harm to be done. And by "keeping away" I don't mean we held her out of the reach of the baby, she was standing next to and above him most of the time completely free in the box, having access to him and licking him all the time, it's just that when we saw she was about to lay down on him we would prevent it, when she was about to step on his head we would block her leg and place it elsewhere, otherwise we of course let her nudge him, poke him, scratch him, even paw at him, we would just stop her when it got to the point she could crush his scull, rib cage or do any other serious damage. She was a very good girl. At one point I realised we're all there crawling between her legs, laying under her belly, sitting on the floor covered with blood and shavings... She could have gone mad trying to protect her baby, she was nervous and anxious but she never behaved dangerously. She could have chased us away, kicked, reared... But she was just trying to help, seemingly not only her baby but us too. She only became too distressed when we lifted the foal in the air by its hind legs trying to drain the water out - she was crying out and snorting and pacing around, she stopped when we put him back on the floor and continued licking him.

I'm sorry for writing too much about it all, I still have everything fresh in my head. I wouldn't say it was traumatic to me (though I have given birth myself a year ago and am four months pregnant again with our second baby), it was just sad and unfortunate. On the other hand - the mommy survived, she could have had some damage too, maybe she'll get to be a proud mom sometime in the future...

If everyone knew when a foal was going to be dropped there wouldn't be thousands of posts in the foaling threads asking 'when'........this could've happened at midnight with the same result. Fact is, not all barns can be supervised 24/7.........

They knew that was her month to give birth and it seems like they werent very prepared is all.. like having a human baby-- you know around when its about to come into the world and you get things together to go to the hospital-- same difference here.. no one to call, no one at all around mid day- no one answering their phones.. just seems like there could have been more done on the horses owners part-- my opinion.

It sounds like you did everything you could with the (limited) knowledge that you had. Don't beat yourself up about leaving to try and find someone. All that means is that you were cognizant of the fact that your knowledge for this particular situation was limited and knew that someone who had more experience was needed.

Be proud that you acted as quickly as you did. For someone who claims to have limited expertise in that area, you saw a mare and foal in trouble and you did something about it and that is admirable. Many people would not have done the same thing, so I think you should focus on the fact that you did something and not on the end result.

Some foals just don't make it. It's just like with babies, puppies, kittens, or goats. Some of them just aren't meant to live. Maybe the mare foaled too early or something, and the lungs weren't fully developed. You will never know. but there is no reason to get too upset. Things happen.

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